“I dialed in exactly who he was,”, said UFC light heavyweight Dominick Reyes about the measures he took to gain an edge over the division’s then-champion Jon Jones before they fought back in 2020. Some day, the mindset that forged Jones’ fighting spirit, is also the entity that has repeatedly landed him in trouble. “By any means necessary”—famous words spoken by Malcolm X that perfectly reflect Jon Jones’ mindset inside the Octagon. And if that mindset won him fights inside the Octagon, it gained him enemies outside of it. Now Reyes has made claims about how certain of Jones’ ‘enemies’ reached out to him before they fought.

It’s a well-known fact that Jon Jones and Colby Covington used to be roommates during their time in college for two years. But their relationship took a turn for the worse in the following years and they’ve openly taken jibes at each other in public. But Covington isn’t the only one with whom Jones has a beef because according to Dominick Reyes, many of the reigning UFC champion’s past teammates, and even coaches, didn’t have the best of relationships with him.

The bad blood between Jon Jones and his former associates seemed to be so bad that ahead of his UFC 249 title defense, some of those associates reached out to Dominick Reyes to help him best the then-light heavyweight champion. Surprisingly, Reyes, who was obsessed with Jones, did not take up that offer, and decided to do things the “right way.”

“It was kind of messed up because former training partners and coaches that he worked with were like, trying to contact me. ‘Hey man, I know Jon’s schedule and all these things. [Do] you want?’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t.. No,'” Dominick Reyes stated on the GYPSY TALES PODCAST, “I’m going to do this straight up… I don’t need your guys’s—you know—the intel and the inside information because everybody wants to see Jon lose.”

“I don’t know if this is legit information, anyway. But the fact that you’re trying to do this to this guy… you’re more of a dirtbag than him,” Dominick Reyes added.

And indeed, it seemed like Dominick Reyes didn’t need extra help in fighting Jon Jones. Like Alexander Gustafsson, he became the only other fighter to have Jones almost lose inside the Octagon. ‘The Devastator’ took ‘Bones’ to deep waters, making the champion question his own integrity inside the Octagon. Furthermore, Reyes became the only fighter to briefly drop Jon Jones in the latter’s fighting career. Alas, the judges scored that bout in favor of Jones.

After the fight, critics and analysts argued that it was, in fact, Dominick Reyes who should have won that fight. ‘The Devastator’ thinks so himself. But what did Jon Jones think of it? Let’s find out.

Jon Jones once shut Dominick Reyes up for his claims about their fight

Jon Jones, in a straightforward series of X posts, last July, claimed that some fighters like to keep their names closer to him just for relevancy—and according to him, Dominick Reyes is one of those fighters. From what we saw, Reyes clearly had Jones thinking inside the Octagon. And in Jones’ own words, he had to dig deep. So the two-weight champion knows that ‘The Devastator’ put him through. But we all know how Jones likes to go back-and-forth in his stances. So it was no surprise when he claimed that Reyes just didn’t “do enough.”

“What a claim to fame, almost beat John Jones. Got full of myself and literally couldn’t win another fight… Dominic, when you look back at our fight, I don’t want you to ever question me or those judges,” Jon Jones wrote on X. “Look at your own heart, your own endurance, you didn’t do enough. The sooner you accept that, the better athlete you’ll become.”

Stinging words from someone who won. Why was Jon Jones so bitter? Maybe he wishes for the adulation and love from fans that Dominick Reyes got after their bout. It didn’t matter if he won. Fans are always going to think Dominick Reyes almost won. And Jones feels the need to constantly put reminders out about his greatness.

What do you think of Dominick Reyes and his approach to the Jon Jones fight? Do you think he operated with integrity? Do let us know in the comments down below.